Foundations in Art

The Forgery

One of my favorite projects to do as a student and teacher. Copying work from a master is a time honored tradition in the art world, apprentices would spend their time learning how to paint by imitating the style of the Master of the Studio. This is a project that shows students how to mix colors and think about the degrees of value in a painting and how color will also change in value. As a student copying a Kandinsky in college allowed me to strengthen my skills as an artist, as it forced me to not only learn about Kandinsky but to also get inside his head as I put brush to canvas. It was one of the most meditative times in the studio, and I love being able to share that experience with my students.

Making a Currency: Introduction to Printmaking

This was a project from college that we completed during the pandemic. Next year we will be offering a printmaking class, and I decided to try this project to give students a taste of the many methods in printmaking. For this project students learned how to monoprint, which literally means one print. Using wax paper and oil pastels students were tasked with creating 3 bills for a currency that they created. This project also lead students to think about how does an artist create ideas for their work, students did brainstorm maps and about ten sketches before they even started the project. They were also introduced to typography, and techniques with oil pastels. Students also learned time management and how to be organized with this project. It was a project that allowed insight into their many hobbies and interests.

Monochromatic Portraits

A review on value and tints, tones, and shades. Also a way for Ms. Crow to use up green paint jugs. Students chose a celebrity headshot and traced the outlines, shadows, and highlights to basically create their own paint by number. The end result a vector like painting that forced students to use good time management as they had a tight deadline. It was amazing to do this project because it showed me just how much they learned this year and how many skills they mastered.

Poems to Paintings

I clearly have a lot of favorites, but this project goes back to highschool for me. My high school art teacher had us choose a book and illustrate part of it, I chose on of my top ten favorite books A Tale of Two Cities. It was a really fun free choice project. In this version students choose a poem and then read the poem five times looking for something different each time, then they create three sketches of how they would illustrate the poem. They got practice before this project from read alouds we would do in class. As a Do Now I would read aloud to students for about 15 mins and they would draw whatever came to mind as I read. We read chapters from A Tale of Two Cities By Charles Dickens, The Scarlet Pimpernel By Baroness Orczy, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie. This is the spring final for Foundations so below you will see the Seniors work, as my Freshan to Juniors are still completing their projects.

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